Charles, Noooooo!!!! Charles, You Got My Head...
Cyclops initiates his plan to put a halt to the Juggernaut's momentum.
The Good
This issue does a great job of showing what a sound, tactical leader Cyke is. I liked that he ran through past tactics to remove Jugg's helmet before resorting to newer methods. It was a nice nod to the X-Men's past stories and a nice treat for longtime readers.
I really liked that Cyke and the X-Men are working so closely with Mayor Sadie. The Psionic Conference Room is a great concept that I'd like to see used a lot more in the future.
One of my favorite things about Gillen's writing is the humor he injects into his stories. This issue me chuckle quite a few times and even laugh out loud. One particular moment that elicited such a response was when Cyke sucker punches Juggernaut's herald.
Last issue I was wondering what the point of the herald was, but now I get it. Gillen's actually solved one of the biggest problems with The Worthy by using this character. Up til now all I've known about the worthy is that they want to destroy and rampage because...um, it's hammer time? The herald allows us to know what Juggernaut wants and why he's doing what he's doing. Gillen does a good job of establishing a rationale as to why the Juggernaut's attacking the X-Men and San Francisco
Gillen writes a PERFECT Emma and I can't wait to see what he does with her when Uncanny renumbers.
Hope gets some good usage this issue. There's a nice moment between her and Teon for all you Generation Hope fans out there.
The Bad
This cover is busy to the point of being cluttered, confusing, and just plane ol' unappealing. I get what Land was going for but this cover's just doing too much.
As it goes with anything with Greg Land pencils the art looks nice in some places but his usual problems permeate the issue.
Why's Kitty flying? Is Kitty flying? Did Colossus launch her toward Mags?
Now that I know his motivations for his actions I've got to ask, has the Juggernaut ever had a beef with mutants at large? That seems like a mischaracterization to me, it makes sense why he hates the X-Men, but all mutants?
The Verdict
After the last (utterly abysmal) issue I was really, really worried about how Fear Itself would affect Uncanny X-men. Now that I've read this issue I'm a bit more hopeful about how things could turn out. Now that I think about it, this issue is exactly what the last issue should've been. Some very solid writing and some great action make this book worth picking up if you're a fan of the X-Men. If you're planning on getting this as a Fear Itself Tie In then I can say don't bother. In fact don't bother buying 99% of the tie ins, the only ones that are affecting the main story (to my knowledge are) Journey Into Mystery/Invincible Iron Man. If you're looking for a potentially fun X-Men story though, then give this issue a shot. As I mentioned earlier, the last issue is totally unnecessary and you can jump right into this one and not feel the least bit lost.
